Jeff Vanderbeek: Setting the record straight on Cory Booker's attacks

John Munson/The Star-LedgerN.J. Devils managing partner Jeff Vanderbeek said he regretted ever bringing the team to Newark following a feud with Mayor Cory Booker.

Video: New Jersey Devils Owner Jeff Vanderbeek's response to Mayor Cory Booker's tiradeA week after Newark Mayor Cory Booker called him a "high falutin' huckster and hustler" and "bamboozler", New Jersey Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek meets with The Star-Ledger editorial board to explain his side of the bitter feud. Vanderbeek says the facts are on his side in the long-running rent dispute with the city, speculates whether Booker's attacks are a political ploy to boost his popularity with voters and says the dispute has him regretting ever moving the team to Newark.

By Jeff Vanderbeek

Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s bitter, personal attack on me is something I can’t stop. He’s also called me a straight shooter and a lifelong friend. But that doesn’t matter either. Instead, what everyone must focus on are the facts he claims in his attack, and here, the mayor is so far off base that the record must be corrected.

First, the mayor has been in office nearly six years and, under his stewardship, the city continues to struggle. He has hit rough political waters as the state has determined that Newark’s budget must be approved by a state monitor before receiving additional taxpayer funding from Trenton.

Second, the mayor was, perhaps, focused on higher political ambitions when he told The Star-Ledger he’d ask friends to shoot him before running for a third mayoral term — and that was at the start of his current term. Even now, he is having trouble connecting in Newark, as evidenced by council members abruptly walking out of his most recent State of the City address.

Still, I suspect he will continue on his current course regarding Prudential Center, so his claims need to be carefully examined because his words affect others, such as those who work and visit The Rock. Let’s keep in mind there are nearly 1,400 dedicated, hardworking members of the Prudential Center team, almost half of whom live in Newark.

Along with my partners, we invested $185 million in partnership with the city to build Prudential Center. Ours is the largest private investment in the downtown core in Newark’s history. Of course, we signed a rent agreement to enable us to make this investment and build The Rock. In it, we made commitments to the city’s agent — the Housing Authority — and the city made commitments to us.

When the mayor initially took office, he asked us to modify the agreement and we consented. Before Prudential Center opened, he called a news conference and, with much acclaim, we signed a new agreement. To our surprise, months later, his staff informed us that, in fact, the Housing Authority had not signed the agreement. In other words, he had not only deceived us, but Newarkers as well.

But we tried again and again to reach an agreement. Indeed, a few years later, the mayor announced at a Prudential Center event that a deal was just a week away. But to our surprise, the mayor was unable to deliver on his publicly stated commitment. Again, he misled not just us, but Newark residents, too.

Then two years ago, the mayor’s administration initiated the arbitration proceeding and spent millions of taxpayers dollars to achieve the decision he now decries. Those millions could have been used to keep more police and firefighters on the job. And he doesn’t even take responsibility for his ill-fated decision. He simply hurls untruths, such as falsely accusing us of starting the arbitration.

What’s the damage done by his blatant disregard of a contract law decision? If you’re a business looking to invest here, be forewarned. The mayor will publicly call you his friend for life and then, when his legal strategy goes in a direction he can’t defend, he will turn on you, making life unpleasant for your valued employees and your customers.

But, let me assure our fans and supporters, we are here to stay. Like all Devils fans, I get my Jersey on every day. I was born here. I live here. I have invested heavily in Newark. So Mayor Booker, I take no offense.

Being a true product of New Jersey means standing up for your friends for life and understanding what telling the truth means. On that, I choose the company of Devils fans and will keep trying to make the Prudential Center — and Newark — the jewel everyone can enjoy and will benefit from.